


Save the Last Dance for Me

by waltzforthemoon



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Crying, Dancing, F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Post Trauma Healing, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 17:16:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18145115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waltzforthemoon/pseuds/waltzforthemoon
Summary: Now that Aqua, Terra, and Ventus have returned to the Land of Departure and things can finally start going back to normal, Terra has one more wish he wants to carry out--the last dance he never got to have with Aqua.





	Save the Last Dance for Me

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel more than 5 years in the making to my previous Terra/Aqua fic, _[Shall We Dance?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1046237)_ I thought I should write a followup to that story now that KH3 happened and my Wayfinder Trio has been saved! which means that Terra and Aqua finally get to have the dance they never had ;__;
> 
> For those who didn't read that fic first--you don't have to read it to get this one--but I introduced a headcanon that 1) there was a celebration ball for students who achieved the Mark of Mastery and 2) more people had probably been living at the Land of Departure/there were more keyblade masters back then? It doesn't seem that likely now lol but for the sake of this fic, let's pretend that in a decade everyone kind of disappeared and of course mark of mastery exams became obsolete when worlds started falling?
> 
> Enjoy <3

In the days following the funeral for Master Eraqus, Aqua made a habit of wandering the halls of their home in the Land of Departure, studying and observing the space as if there was something for her to do. One afternoon, Terra noticed how quiet and preoccupied she seemed to be and decided to join her.

 “Hey, Aqua—what are you up to?” Terra asked as he approached her in the center of the great hall.

 “Hm? Oh, hey Terra!” Aqua turned to him. “I was just thinking about what we could do with all this space that we’re not really using.”

 Terra glanced around the hall. “It is a pretty big place, huh?”

“Especially since Master Eraqus isn’t here now, it feels so much bigger,” Aqua remarked with a downcast stare. She blinked and lost the expression in her eyes as she looked at Terra again. “But… think of all the good new memories we can make here, all the possibilities of what we can use this space for.”

Terra glanced around the room, remembering all the important memories he had made in that room. The last time he was there before he fell into darkness, it was his and Aqua’s Mark of Mastery exam. Then he really began to look at the room: there was so much light in there, big wide open spaces, and even a balcony with beautiful stained glass windows behind it. Now that he looked at it differently, it reminded him of another place he had been to that was similarly beautiful and had a similar amount of open floor space.

“You know, this room is big enough to be a ballroom,” Terra told Aqua.

“A ballroom? Like for dancing?” Aqua asked.

Terra nodded. “I mean, that’s just one possibility.”

Aqua’s gently grinned. “What made you think of that?”

Terra shrugged and sheepishly smiled. “Well, you know, that world we went to—where there was a ball in the castle? Back then, I remember it made me think that if we ever got back here, I’d like to have that dance with you. I always imagined that would be here, anyway.”

Aqua tilted her head in confusion. “A dance?”

“Uh, remember—the Mark of Mastery ball thing… “ Terra started to explain.

Aqua’s eyes widened. “Oh—right!”

Terra breathed out a laugh in surprise. “You forgot?”

Aqua glanced down. “Well—I had a lot more important things to think about over ten years—“

“I was kidding!” Terra quickly replied, his cheeks flushing. “I’m sorry.”

“No—it’s fine.” Aqua looked down and her cheeks flushed this time. She weakly laughed. “I guess… the old me would have not forgotten about it.”

Terra gave Aqua a concerned stare, but quickly smiled to cover it up. “Well, it’s not a big deal. It’s just…that was one of the thoughts that kept me going all this time. That one day after I had set things right, we could finally get to have that dance—since we never had the chance before.”

“Terra…” Aqua softly called out. She smiled at him, and then gradually her eyes began to shine and grow red.

“Aqua?” Terra stepped forward. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No… No, not at all!” Aqua wiped away her forming tears. “I’m glad that you remembered.”

Terra bit his lip and then bowed his head. “Anyway, it’s never too late for us to have that dance. After all, we never got to properly congratulate you on becoming a Keyblade Master.”

Aqua smiled. “Oh, please… you don’t have to—“

“Yeah, I do! I mean, we should have a big party for you! With all our new friends!” Terra grinned. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”

Aqua walked forward to close the distance between her and Terra, and then she fondly looked up at him. “I’m so glad to have you back.”

Terra’s grin dropped for a second and his eyes widened. He had no idea how to respond to the gentle, yet charged look in Aqua’s eyes.

Then Aqua turned around and crossed her arms, looking around the room again. “So… this dance? When did you want to have it?”

Terra blinked and then glanced up in thought. “Well… we could do it now.”

“Now?” Aqua asked with a grin.

“Sure, why wait?” Terra bowed and extended an arm for Aqua.

Aqua was smiling now, lips pressed together to keep from smiling too big. “We don’t even have music!”

“Don’t worry—I got that taken care of,” Terra replied as he stood up straight again. “Hey, Ven!”

“Yeah, Terra?” Ven called out from the hallway, after it sounded like he had come running.

“You have your gummiphone on you?” Terra asked.

“Yeah!”

“Well, we’re gonna need some music!” Terra called to him. Then he grinned at Aqua. “Did you know you could put music on those things? It’s so…magical!”

Aqua smiled brightly. “We need to get Master Yen Sid to get you a gummiphone, too.”

Ven had just arrived to meet Terra and Aqua, already thumbing through his phone. “Roxas and Mickey sent me some good tunes for dancing. Nice fancy ones like you asked for.”

Aqua raised an eyebrow. “You asked for music?"

“Well, like I said… I hoped that one day we could have a dance. I wanted to be prepared,” Terra said with a blush on his cheeks. “We don’t have to, though.”

Aqua smiled at Ven, who was waiting for her answer eagerly, and then she glanced back at Terra. “I would love to dance with you, Terra.”

Terra smiled wide and then he cleared his throat before walking with Aqua to the center of the room. Meanwhile, Ven set the music to an elegant, but lively tune that was close to a waltz melody.

Terra held a hand out for Aqua, and she took it gently before she placed her other hand on his shoulder. Terra moved into a waltz stance, placing his hand at the small of Aqua’s back as he gripped her other hand in his firmly, locking their elbows in place.

His heart was beating fast—it had been over ten years since he had danced, and yet the butterflies and the heat he felt were just like before--just from holding Aqua like this. As anxiety-inducing as it was, it was a relief for Terra to know that he could still feel like this from just dancing a waltz. Like he hadn’t really ever lost his human self.

He sheepishly laughed at himself as he looked down at Aqua.

“You remember what to do?” Aqua asked with a grin.

Terra laughed. “Uh… I hope so?" 

Aqua laughed this time and raised an eyebrow. “Just don’t step on my toes!”

Terra laughed uncomfortably at this, and then he looked over at Ven, who was grinning so hard and giving him a thumbs up gesture. Terra closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Then he opened his eyes and saw Aqua give him an encouraging smile.

“Okay… Let’s do this! Forward first,” he told Aqua before he slightly pressed their clasped hands forward.

Terra and Aqua moved together, tentatively stepping in box formation. 

“Forward, step, together. Back, step, together.” Terra laughed as he looked down at his feet, “See, I remember this!”

“Eyes on me, remember?” Aqua told Terra. She moved her hand from his shoulder to his chin, and softly tilted it up until his eyes met hers.

Terra felt the breath get knocked out of him when he looked into Aqua’s eyes and became hyperaware of the electrifying touch of her fingers on his chin. He was speechless.

Aqua grinned and then moved back into the proper waltz stance. “Let’s continue!”

They went on with a few more slow box steps, not nearly matching the speed of the song that Ven put on, so he had to play it on repeat—but Terra was enjoying their flawless dance and he smiled down at Aqua at every successful movement. 

“We’re doing great!” Aqua told Terra with a wide grin.

Terra smiled back and then decided to be more confident. He pressed his fingers onto Aqua’s waist and they turned, continuing their waltz in a circular pattern. 

“Terra, are you doing….spins?” Aqua asked with wide eyes.

“I guess I am!” Terra laughed and continued to move his feet. Aqua grinned and held on tighter as they moved faster, giggling as they spun around in a waltz across the floor

“Yeah, go Terra!” Ven cheered. 

Terra glanced at him, and then stopped mid-turn. “Hey, Ven…you should dance with Aqua too! I don’t think you ever got the chance to before.”

“Do you want to dance, Ven?” Aqua smiled and then reached out a hand.

“Really?” Ven grinned wide. 

“Go ahead,” Terra told Ven as he stepped away.

Ven brightly beamed as Aqua patiently helped him get his frame together. As they began to waltz, Terra watched with fondness from the side, laughing as Ven and Aqua stumbled and giggled their way through box steps and Ven’s wild turns.

It had been so long since Terra had seen Aqua laugh and smile like this, and it made him realize that her laughter the most beautiful sound he had heard since…ever.

Terra felt himself blush as he looked at Aqua and then he looked away, hoping she might not notice. This feeling he had in his heart when he looked at her—it wasn’t something that happened just because they danced. It wasn’t just that she was beautiful. He loved seeing her happy, he loved seeing her smile, hearing her laughter. He loved her and her light. He wanted to see her like this everyday.

Aqua and Ven had stopped dancing, laughing together in the middle of the room.

"Terra, your turn again!” Ven told him. “I want to see you and Aqua do some more of the fancy stuff.”

“Alright, Ven… since you asked so nicely…” Aqua told him with a ruffle of his hair.

Terra laughed as he approached Aqua. “Ready to get fancy?”

Aqua nodded and then got into position with Terra. He led her along the room again, in turns, spins, and botched attempts at promenades. Terra’s heart was beating fast the whole time, but he wasn’t nervous anymore. He was just thrilled and so happy to have Aqua smile and laugh with him as they had fun.

There was one more move that Terra wanted to try, though…the thing that made him feel confident as a dancer all those years ago.

At the end of a turn, Terra stepped away from Aqua and spun her around, then brought her back to him.

Her eyes were wide with caution now. “Terra—I don’t think we should try what I think you’re going to try—“

Terra laughed. “Don’t worry, Aqua! It’ll be fine!”

“If you drop me, I swear….“ Aqua was cut off with her own squeal as Terra spun her quickly again and then he lunged to dip her across his knee. Aqua was grasping his shoulder so tight as she hovered over the ground, but Terra had a hold on her that just as firm and steady.

“See? I won’t ever let you fall, Aqua,” Terra told her in a quiet voice.

Aqua’s eyes were soft as she glanced up at him, and her lips gently curved into a smile. “Terra…”

Terra cautiously helped her stand up, and took her hand in his. Terra cleared his throat and then bowed in front of Aqua, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

Aqua was quiet as she stared at him, and then she asked, “That’s it?”

Terra was about to reply in confusion before Aqua grasped him by his shirt and pulled him close—and then pressed a kiss to his lips.

Terra was sure that his heart would fly out of his chest if the electricity coursing through his body didn’t knock him out first. He couldn’t say anything when Aqua pulled away just a couple seconds after. She was radiant when he looked down at her—smiling and laughing.

“Ven, get your gummiphone! Terra’s never been this red in his life—we need a photo of this!” 

“Already got you, Aqua!”

Terra snapped out of his daze when he heard a clicking sound from behind him and then he turned toward Ven. “Hey! No pictures!”

Aqua began to laugh even harder as Ven ran in circles and Terra began to chase him.

Terra stopped mid-chase, then turned to her and grinned. “Oh, so this is funny to you, huh?”

Aqua nodded, unable to speak as she continued to laugh. Terra put his arms behind his head and sighed, focusing on catching his breath. But then he noticed that Aqua’s laughing gave way to a different sound—it sounded like she was crying.

“…Aqua?” Terra quickly walked over to her. “Aqua, are you okay?”

Aqua let more tears fall and she sobbed, unable to get any words out.

“Aqua…” Ven softly called out as he came walking back.

Terra swallowed and placed a comforting arm around her. “Aqua, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made us do all this silly stuff.”

Aqua vigorously shook her head. “No… I’m… so happy. I’m just so happy!” She cried more as she looked up at Terra and then leaned forward to cry onto his chest.“I spent so long thinking we would never be able to have this again. I’m so happy, Terra!”

Terra began to shudder with his own crying as he enclosed Aqua in his arms and held her tight. Then he glanced to his right, where a misty-eyed Ven was standing in concern right next to the two of them.

“C’mere, Ven,” Terra said as he outstretched a hand and Ven all but launched himself to wrap his arms around both Terra and Aqua.

Tears of happiness and relief and a release of the grief they had held onto for so long. The healing had just begun.

+

 

Later that night, Aqua and Terra waited until Ven went to sleep in his own room, before heading to Aqua’s room to talk alone. They sat next to each other at the nook where Aqua used to lie down and read books while she caught a breeze from the window. Nowadays, she loved to just look out of that window to see a real sky and real stars. 

“Today was a good day,” Aqua remarked with a calm smile.

“Everyday has been a good day since I got you and Ven back,” Terra said with a big grin.

Aqua glanced at him, noticing how much he hadn’t seemed to look any different from over a decade ago. He was still tall, strong, and he had the same brown hair and gentle blue eyes she kept in her heart and her mind all this time. But there was something about him… he didn’t look as ‘heavy’ as he did before.

“You know, I think you did actually change after all this time,” Aqua told him.

“Hmm?” Terra furrowed his brow in concern.

“You’re not afraid anymore,” Aqua told him with a calm and confident tone.

Terra gently smiled. “Well, after losing you and Ven, nothing else could scare me. So now that I have you both here with me, I have nothing to fear.”

Aqua smiled up at him. “I think you also developed a way with words.”

“Oh… haha, thanks!” Terra bent his eyebrows. “Hey… wait—what’s that supposed to mean?”

Aqua giggled. “It’s a good thing!” Then she quieted and lost her smile. “You know… Sometimes, I feel like I’m more scared now than before. Because I know what it's like to lose you and Ven, and I don't want that to ever happen again.”

“Aqua…” Terra quietly said as he glanced over at her.

She had her arms wrapped around her shins before resting her chin on her knees. 

“I can’t blame you for feeling scared after everything you’d been through,” Terra sighed. “You never should have had to go through what you did—all to rescue me, and yet—”

“Terra, I don’t regret it,” Aqua quickly interrupted as she placed a hand on his wrist. “Not for one second. And I would do it all over again.”

“But I should have been with you,” Terra continued with a downward glance.

“But you _were_ there with me,” Aqua told him with a smile. “In the darkness, when I thought of you, when I wanted to see you so badly—you were there.”

Terra kept his eyes lowered. “And I was only there _because_ you called for me. Without you or Ven, I…”

Aqua shook her head. “Terra—you fought as hard as you could when you were on your own, and you fought for so long—protecting me and Ven in the process. You just needed a little help to get free. We all did. I didn’t even escape from the darkness on my own—it was Sora who saved me.”

Terra smiled. “Sora. He’s…something special, huh?”

Aqua smiled. “Yeah. He is.”

“He’ll come back too, one day,” Terra said with an optimistic look in his eyes.

Aqua glanced over at Terra. “Yeah.”

Terra looked over at her, then he took Aqua’s hand into his own and laced their fingers together. “As long as we’re together, I hope you know that you’ll have nothing to fear. I won’t let anything happen to you, Aqua. And if any trouble ever comes our way again, we’ll take it on together this time. I won’t leave you.”

Aqua’s eyes shined with tears. “Terra, thank you.”

Terra gently smiled at Aqua as he squeezed her hand.

“I'm glad Ven doesn’t really remember much of anything, that he didn’t have to suffer like we did,” Terra said as he glanced out the window. “But we never even knew about everything that had happened to him before. What kind of wounds is he still healing from?”

Terra glanced down, thinking about the lies he had been told by Xehanort all those years ago, and the awful truth about Ventus that he eventually uncovered. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath to keep the momentary rage from taking over him again.

“Terra?”

He opened his eyes and saw Aqua, with a worry line creased between her eyes. She squeezed his hand, and Terra felt the flames in his heart extinguish.

He did his best to give Aqua a smile. “We all still have a lot to heal from. But I want us to do it together.”

“I’ll be with you and Ven, always,” Aqua replied.

Terra gazed softly at her. “I know. You always have been.”

Aqua met his gaze for a few seconds before glancing down at their intertwined hands. Then she brought their clasped hands up and pressed a kiss to Terra’s hand. 

Terra smirked, remembering their dance earlier. “That’s it?”

Aqua grinned wide before Terra leaned in to give her a sweet, slow kiss. He gently held her face with one hand, stroking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, meanwhile Aqua had her hands on his chest. She bashfully glanced down after they pulled away from each other.

Terra caught his breath while not looking directly at Aqua, either. He cleared his throat before starting, “Hey, Aqua, I…" 

“Yeah?”

Terra blushed as he asked, “Do you like me?”

Aqua tilted her head and smiled, bending her eyebrows. “Terra? What kind of question is that?”

Terra put a hand behind his head, a nervous habit of his. “I mean… do you _like me,_ like me?”

“Terra, I _love_ you.” Aqua gave him a smile. “I always have.”

“Yeah, but…do you love me, like…a brother? Or like—” Terra sighed as his face reddened further, “I’m—Sorry—I—“

“I wouldn’t kiss my brother if I had one, Terra,” Aqua dryly replied.

“…Okay,” Terra replied. “But did you kiss me because—“ 

Terra was cut off when Aqua leaned forward and grasped him by the back of his head before she pressed a fervent kiss to his lips. Terra was frozen in shock for a second, then he closed his eyes and kissed Aqua back.

“I kissed you because I love you—in the way that people kiss each other on the lips when they love each other.” Aqua told Terra this with an intent gaze and flushed cheeks.

“I love you, too. I love you so much, Aqua,” Terra said as he brushed a hand through her hair, his eyes watering. 

They hugged and Aqua leaned her head against Terra’s chest. “It’s okay. Everything is as it should be now. I’m with you.”

Terra and Aqua stayed like this for a long while, quiet until the two of them fell asleep in their embrace.

+

 

Aqua woke up first, and gently woke up Terra by brushing the hair out of his face.

“Good morning,” she told him in a low, sleepy voice that made Terra’s heart race.

He blinked open his eyes, getting a better look at Aqua and her tousled hair. Terra smiled. “Good morning, Aqua.”

“I can’t believe we fell asleep here,” Aqua said as she rested her forehead against his chest again.

“Me neither,” said a voice that didn’t belong to Terra or Aqua.

“Oh my gosh—Ven!” Aqua exclaimed as she got up off of Terra.

Terra quickly sat up and groaned. “Ven!”

Ven giggled as he held a gummiphone in hand.  “You two are so easy to prank—wait’ll I send these to Lea!”

“No! No one is going to see those!” Aqua cried out as she stood up.

She and Terra sprang up and chased Ven down the hall, who was loudly laughing the whole time.

Aqua was the first one to catch up to Ven, and then Terra scooped the both of them up into a hug.

“You little troublemaker!” Aqua said before pressing a kiss to Ven’s hair. He was still giggling until Terra put both him and Aqua down on the ground, and then he wrapped his arms around Ven so that he couldn’t get away.

“Fine, you win!” Ven told Terra with a giggle. “And…hey, are you two together now? Like… ‘true love’ together?”

Terra stood up properly and let Ven go so he could properly look him in the face while he explained. He glanced at Aqua with a blush, then cleared his throat. “Well…”

“Yes,” Aqua cut in, causing Terra to whip his head around to meet her gaze. “What’s between all of us is true love. We love you, Ven—and Terra and I love each other, too.“

“But…you guys kissed…on the lips…” Ven said with a coy look in his eyes.

“Yes, we did, Ven,” Aqua said with a flush of pink on her cheeks. “And you will probably see us kiss again in the very near future.” 

“Good one, Aqua!” Ven said just before snapping a pic of a fiercely blushing Terra with his gummiphone. “He’s even more red now!”

“Hey!” Terra cried out, flustered.

Aqua placed a hand on Terra’s chest to stop him from running after Ven.

“Let him go,” Aqua told him with a grin. “And…let’s go back to sleep?”

Terra gently smiled down at her, then pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Okay.”

Aqua reached for Terra’s hand and held it as she led the walk back to her room.

She grinned at Terra before picking up her own gummiphone from her desk. “Well, I guess we might as well tell our friends about us before Ven has a chance to do it.” 

“Hm?” Terra asked as he sat down on Aqua’s bed.

Aqua opened the gummiphone’s camera and then set it up so that it was front facing. “Let’s take a photo ourselves.”

Aqua sat down next to Terra and then leaned against his shoulder as she smiled.

“Ready? Say cheese!”

“Cheese?”

“That’s what Sora used to say all the time before he took selfies,” Aqua explained to Terra as she looked into the screen.

“Selfie?” Terra asked with a confused tilt of his head.

Aqua fondly sighed, and then giggled. “How about you just give me a kiss?”

Terra smiled and gently cupped Aqua’s chin before giving her a kiss on the cheek. Aqua snapped the photo, grinning wide.

“You look so happy,” Terra remarked as he leaned over Aqua’s shoulder to look at the photo on her phone.

Aqua turned to look at Terra, matching his bright look with a bright smile of her own. “I am.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this soft fic <3
> 
> p.s. I would love to see if anyone has suggestions for what the instagram caption of Aqua and Terra's cute photo would be! lol


End file.
